Smoke and Memories (The Dark Sorcerer #3) - D.K. Holmberg Page 0,15

realized he had solidified the linking spell they shared. She should’ve known.

At the same time, she should have been able to use that linking spell to know that Char had been the sorcerer in danger to begin with.

She generally didn’t pay attention to the linking spell; the only time she did so was when she knew she needed to reach Char. These days, at least within the city, she had found herself using the energy within the spell far more often than she had before.

“That’s in case I need to find you,” he said.

“You would’ve been able to do that anyway,” she said.

“I would have, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t do anything to keep me from finding you.”

“Did you really think I would?”

“Maybe not intentionally. But it happened once before. If you’re going to be chasing after this danger, I want to know how to locate you if I uncover anything that will be of use to you.”

She shook her head, smiling at him, then gave him a gentle shove. “Get going. And be smart about leaving the outpost.”

When he finally headed back inside, she turned, focusing on the power within the Toral ring and the energy within the city, and she worried. It was the second time today she’d felt such a surge of dark power.

4

Jayna followed the energy within the ring, knowing that dark energy within the city could come from any number of sources. Not only did she have to worry about Asymorn and Norej, but now she had to be concerned about rothand. She didn’t know for sure if it was some sort of dark energy or not, but given what had been taking place within the city over the last few months, it was only fitting that there would be another source of dark magic.

Now she needed to understand the connection between those dark magics. There were twelve powerful Sul’toral who served a greater power, Sarenoth, though she didn’t know enough about them—or why they were suddenly more active than they had been in some time. From what she’d learned, they had been imprisoned, but some or all of them had escaped.

Even more than that, she needed to understand: Why Nelar?

That started to trouble her, and the Toral ring began to constrict again.

It reminded her a little bit of how it constricted when Ceran called upon her, though it was not the same. When Ceran called, there was a steady and rhythmic sort of energy. When she was around dark magic, it constricted, but it stayed tight, as if prompting her to take action—as if the ring itself wanted her to fight.

Jayna had come to recognize that power, even if she didn’t fully understand it.

She followed the energy.

There was nothing in it that she could use to guide her way through the city, though the farther she went, the more she felt as if she could uncover something here. There was a key nearby. She didn’t know what it was, nor who was responsible, but there was power here.

Jayna no longer felt the same chaos around her as she had earlier. Even the strange agitation she’d felt in the crowd had faded, as if it had never been there. For that, she was thankful. There was always the risk that the protest and the attack on Char could’ve gotten bloody. It had very nearly gotten to that point anyway, and it was only through chance, more than anything else, that they had managed to keep from fighting their way free. Char wouldn’t have been willing to take the same action that Jayna would have. She was glad she had been there for him, and worried about what might’ve happened had she not been.

The pressure guided her away from her home.

She considered returning to the home to see whether Topher was okay since he had sent out the summons, but there had been no recurrence of that vibration since she had sent Eva away to check on him. Either Topher didn’t need her help, or Eva’s arrival had been enough.

She found herself drawn toward the courtyard outside of the homes of the seven leaders of the city. All of them were dular, and all of them were incredibly wealthy, rising up to lead through the years and their accrued power.

She watched Rosal’s father’s house, thumbing her finger over the bloodstone on her ring, thinking about Rosal’s role in everything that had happened in the city. He had some responsibility for it and was